When the 2010 Winter Olympics kick off this month, Downtown Vancouver will play host to 1.85 million event ticket holders in addition to the thousands of businesses and residents that rely on the city's transport system. To help the regional transport authority TransLink keep things moving, Applied Information Group has created a new identity, station signs and mapping. The initiative is part of AIG's ongoing contract with TransLink to develop a multi-modal wayfinding system for the young, expanding metropolis.

AIG's creative director, Malcolm Garrett RDI gave Creative Review his first impressions on the newly announced Apple iPad. In the article entitled "Why the iPad matters", he notes that the truly interesting aspect of the iPad is in its further exploration of the interface and interaction design from the iPod, rather than the form itself. Hence the logical step of acknowledging the product as a next generation iPod, rather than a downgraded MacBook. Malcolm also stated his expectations of the unpredictable outcomes this device might produce, integrating the accelerometer, GPS and Wi-fi capabilities. To read the full article please click the link below.

The London Rotarian, the world’s longest-running continuously published Rotarian magazine now in its 94th year, has been redesigned by Applied Information Group.

Billed as “Thinking about communities in our city and the world”, the magazine, this time leading with a feature by Fiyaz Mughal about reconciliation between Muslims and Jews. The Rotary Club of London, which celebrates its centenary next year, is well-known for its speaking programme and the magazine trailed visits from Lord Jeffrey Archer, his old rival Ken Livingstone, Royal Institution director Baroness Susan Greenfield, LibDem MP Susan Kramer and Will Hutton.

The new look marks the return to the editor’s chair of AIG’s md Kasper de Graaf, who previously edited The London Rotarian from 2002-07. Published three times a year, it is read by business, political and community leaders not only in London but all over the world and seeks to discuss important London issues with wider resonance. The redesign was led by AIG creative director Tim Fendley, whose Legible London Yellow Book won this year’s Design Week Award, and design director Ben Acornley who was a key member of the team that redesigned The Economist some years ago.

The next issue, due out in April, leads with a contribution to the debate about knife crime from former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair.

i-Design has made it onto Design Week's annual 'Hot 50' list yet again. An event first organised by Dynamo London, i-Design is an digital interactive design conference held each year during the London Design Festival. Produced by AIG, with New Media Knowledge and Creative:Strategy:Production, the 2009 i-Design was held at the Old Cinema, the UK's oldest cinema, in the University of Westminster on London's Regent Street, and marked the third year of the event. This year creative director Malcolm Garrett brought together a varied programme of acclaimed industry speakers, with panels, installations and films co-hosted by Future of Sound, Cybersonica, 5D and Onedotzero. To read the full article please click on the link below.

segdDESIGN, a quarterly design publication by the Society for Environmental Graphic Design has published an in-depth review of Legible London on their latest edition. Founded in 1973, SEGD is the leading organisation of environmental graphic design in North America. Jenny Reising, a Cincinnati-based design writer, has penned not only the various concepts involved, but also the detailed design developments of the Legible London signs. To read the full article please click on the link below.

Our man Malcolm Garrett talks to 'Life & Style' in The Independent about how, back in 1984, Apple changed his life. He was pipped at the post in the early adopter stakes by journalist Michael Bywaters, who says he also got his first Mac in the mid-eighties but as a gift from Steve Jobs – you get serious points for that.

The Open Futures website designed by Applied Information Group is an important home for the inspiring case studies, and the teacher’s resources that make up the Helen Hamlyn Trust’s practical skills initiative for Primary Schools. The site is the latest progression of AIG’s development of a comprehensive Open Futures identity and communication programme. The identity revolves around a roundel mark constructed from an assortment of quirky icons, each a symbol and a narrative of what the programme offers. The roundel on the website translates into an interactive menu, with each icon a link through to a related point of information. The result is a site that is playfully compelling and enlightening . . . which sums up the Open Futures identity and ethos.

On 29 January 2010 at St Bride’s Library, London, AIG’s Malcolm Garrett takes part in a panel discussion on the legacy of Barney Bubbles, a gifted designer who lived and worked within the practice of music design. Malcolm joins Bubbles’ biographer Paul Gorman, Gerard Saint (Big Active), Kate Moross, and chair John Walters, editor and co-owner of Eye, the international review of graphic design, and a music critic for The Guardian. The discussion is part of a one day conference on music and design. St Bride’s in Fleet Street is the world’s foremost printing and graphic arts library. 

AIG's Tim Fendley is to speak at Cities Revealed Event 2010, a two day educational event for users of geographic information. Hosted by the GeoInformation Group on 27 and 28 January, this event marks its tenth anniversary this year. With keynote and guest speakers including David Rhind, former Director General of Ordnance Survey and Ed Parsons, the Geospatial Technologist of Google, this event carries out a wealth of discussions and workshops from thermal imaging to GIS mash-ups. Tim is to present the formulation and the methodologies of Legible London on 28 January. The venue is Madingley Hall, Cambridge and booking information can be found on the web link below.

On 12 January 2010, AIG's Creative Director Tim Fendley is speaking at CILIP. Members of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, or CILIP, have invited Tim to discuss the principles and developments of Legible London as well his experience on recent information system projects in cities such as Brighton and Bristol. The venue is Sekforde Arms located at EC1, London. The talk starts at 6:30pm with Q&A session to follow. Admission is free.